Cookies on the Arsenal WebsiteWe use cookies to improve your browsing experience and help us improve our websites. We and carefully selected third parties use cookies to show you more relevant ads online. For more information, please click here. By continuing to use our website, you agree to our use of such cookies.

Harvey: 'I think it was a huge success'

After Arsenal Ladies’ 1-1 draw with INAC Kobe on Wednesday, manager Laura Harvey attended a crowded press conference to give her thoughts on the game and how the 11-day charity tour of Japan has gone so far.

on the opening game…I think the game was a really huge success, exactly what we wanted before we came out here - to play in such a magnificent stadium with a great crowd against a fantastic team, and to see where we stand against some of the best players in the world. And that’s what we were able to do on Wednesday night.

on INAC Kobe…INAC are an excellent side who play really good football. Their retention of the ball was excellent which made it hard to play against them, and we had to work hard to get the ball. But we’re just happy we could come here and pitch ourselves against that level of opposition. Sawa is, for me, the best player in the world and again tonight I thought she had a major influence on the game. And Kai I thought had an excellent game.

on the difference in style of play…In Europe and in England, the way that we play is maybe a little more physical than on this side of the world. But the referee respected that on Wednesday night and allowed us to play the game our way.

on the charity tour…As soon as we knew this tour was an option, we wanted to take it up. With women’s football it’s rare that you can give something back like we’ve been able to here and we’re really grateful we’ve been given the an opportunity to help out in any way we can.

We’ve loved being in Japan, we’ve really enjoyed it - it’s been exactly as we’d hoped it would be. The people have been really respectful and the hospitality we’ve had has been fantastic. We hope that the funds raised from the match can help in some way with the relief effort for the earthquake earlier in the year.

Copyright 2016 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source

Please ensure you enter the correct Date of Birth as it will be required if you need to reset your password

Please ensure that you enter your parents email address and click here to review our privacy policy for those who are under 13. Please note that an email address can only be used once to register as a Digital Member so you cannot register for both an adult and junior membership under the same email address.

Mobile Number

* Country

* State

Language Preference

* Postcode

* Email Address

* Confirm Email Address

* Password

* Confirm Password

Get all the news from Arsenal.com

Weekly E-Newsletter (only in English)I would like to receive the weekly e-newsletter which includes match reviews and offers from The Arsenal Football Club plc and its commercial partners.

Club Information and Offers (only in English)I would like to receive information and offers relating to The Arsenal Football Club plc.

Offers and Information about Commercial Partners (only in English)I would like to receive information and offers relating to The Arsenal Football Club plc's commercial partners.For further details, see our Privacy Policy or write to us at Data Protection Officer, The Arsenal Football Club PLC, 75 Drayton Park, London N5 1BU